sharing my imperfect journey through life.

Overflowing with Thankfulness

I’ve been a little quiet in the blog world as of the past several months but I wanted to update you/ be honest and open with what my life currently looks like. More specifically what I am currently thankful for. For the past several months I have been filled with so much thankfulness and gratitude for the blessings that God has poured out to me. I have not written this post to gloat but rather to say thank you. You are a blessing to me.

my roommates. in one word… Amazing. They are such wonderfully godly women. It is so apparent how much they love Christ that it pours out continually. They are such an encouragement to me and my faith and hold me accountable. And as for day-to-day living.. We try to live with a servant’s heart and I think it’s working rather well (you’d have to ask them for the full picture). Overall, love them to death and couldn’t be happier with the blessing they are to me.

my friends and community. I have been blessed with some wonderful, life long friends. We’ve been through a lot together and am so appreciative of each of them. I have loved watching each one of them walk and grow in their faith and to see their lives and families grow fills me with so much joy [husbands, babies, puppies.. all are such a gift].

In the last year God has also blessed me with unbelievable new friendships. I am involved with a wonderful community group that knows how to laugh, live life and strive to follow Christ. I have enjoyed [and continue to enjoy] spending time with each one of them. They are such an encouragement to me and my faith. I love living, learning and growing with them.

This goes hand-in-hand with my wonderful church family. I have officially been attending Morning Star for 14 months now and God could not have placed me in a better family. I am continually challenged and stretched in the best ways possible. It took a lot of God-courage to walk into a church filled with a bunch of unknown faces that now I can’t imagine not living life with. God is blessing and working in this church in so many ways and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

my girls. I have been blessed to be able to lead a wonderful small group of now Senior girls who have huge hearts to follow Jesus and for those around them. I am blessed, encouraged and challenged in my faith by each one of them and am so thankful to be able to walk with them for the last 9 months. I also can’t wait to walk with them through this last year of high school that is full of so many different changes. Senior year is exciting and very challenging but so very worth it. Looking forward to this next year of adventures with them.

my family. I am so thankful for a family that loves Jesus and strives to let others know of His love and grace. Even when life gets hard and challenging they have remained faithful. They are a wonderful example to me of a steadfast faith. I still can’t believe that my little sister will be graduating from high school in 4 days. When did she grow up? I’m so proud of her and what she has been able to accomplish in school, with her friends, and in her small town community.

In these past few months I have also been blessed to have my brother, his wonderful wife and my pup niece and nephew move not only to Salem but to my same apartment complex! It has been fun to just drop by and have dinner together or play games and watch a movie. They are such a wonderful blessing to me and I’m so thankful for them and their proximity.. Even if I don’t get to see them all that often. Seriously, why is life so busy?

Sam. he is such a wonderful man of God. I am so blessed to be able to call him my boyfriend for the last 5 months. He continually shows me God’s love and is a wonderful example of a compassionate, servant heart. It has been so fun adventuring through these past months with him and I am looking forward to many more adventures this summer. Brace yourself for the pictures. I’m seeing water falls, camping, beach trips, river floating, all things outdoors.

When I start to become overwhelmed with the busyness of my life [and trust me.. its been a busy couple of months], I try and remember all of these wonderful gifts and blessings God has given me. It’s even easy to sometimes look at how full my schedule is and just wish for rest. But when I take a second and look at what my life is full of, I smile. I know life isn’t always easy or feel like smooth sailing, but God is with us (you and I) through it all!

“Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”
Psalm 95:2

lindsay ralene.

I am a twenty-something newlywed and a boy mom to our son, Nolan, with a heart for the creative, finding natural solutions for daily life, and want to glorify God with the gifts that he has given me. This blog is my outlet for my adventures, creative endeavors, and a place to reflect on where life takes me and share some tidbits along the way.